Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

moar funny pictures

Couldn't have created a better one of these myself to illustrate the main event of my day. I got the bright idea to try to measure the crochet thread it takes to do one of the original pattern bookmarks. I'd been guessing it was approximately five yards.

I began by pulling the thread off the ball in the same way I do when crocheting but didn't crochet so I had this pile of loops by my hip. After I'd counted out the approximate number of 'pulls' I stopped to wrap the thread around this plastic box that was six inches long with half inch edges. I got about half of the loose thread wrapped when I encountered a snarl and when trying to unsnarl it I pulled the wrong thread too hard and ended up with a knot.

I'm stubborn about knots. I know that most workers in thread will just cut the knot or bad snarl out as they view their time as worth more than a few centimeters or inches of thread. But I've always been obsessive about getting knots out of my thread whether embroidering, needlepoint, cross stitch, or crocheting.

Today I spent two hours taking out two knots and unsnarling the mess of loops until I got it all wrapped around the box. 22 times around. Began to crochet and got 8.5 of the 12 rows done before I ran out of the loose thread. That meant I had just past two-thirds finished and if 22 feet plus 22 inches was approximate two-thirds, I should be able to finish with just under 8 more wraps around the box. Which I did without incident.

I can't claim my measurements are precise to the fraction of an inch but the completed bookmark used approximately 32 feet 6 inches. Just under 11 yards then. So much for my guestimates. Off by more than double.

Just FYI I guess. Don't know why but I'd been really wondering almost ever since I made the first ones nearly a year ago and trying to figure out a way of measuring it.



By 'original pattern' I mean like these done with what i think of as the granny square stitch. Two shell stitches per row for twelve rows. A shell stitch is six double crochet with a single chain between the first and second three inside a single 'space'. In the first row the 'space' is on of the chain stitches on the foundation chain. In the rest of the rows the 'space' is that created by the chain stitch separating the sets of three double crochet.